A connoisseur's guide to the very best ramen of Japan.

The first of its kind in English, the Ramen Beast app was created to help global food fans access Japan's mindbogglingly deep world of ramen. There are as many as 10,000 ramen shops in Tokyo, with tens of thousands more scattered across the islands of Japan. Ramen Beast is a connoisseur's guide and an appreciation. The project strives to discover and celebrate only the best: legendary shops open for generations, new school innovators carrying the cuisine forward and the countless Japanese ramen chefs devoted to the mastery of their craft (no mass market chains). Many of the shops we feature are in remote, inconvenient locations. But they are some of the best— and that's all that matters.

The project was founded by three Japan-based ramen fans. Abram Plaut is Ramen Beast's driving force (follow him here). A San Francisco native based in Tokyo for the past 15 years, he has eaten at over 2,000 ramen shops in Japan, and previously co-produced a weekly ramen column for the Japanese version of Playboy magazine. He currently works as a full-time ramen consultant and global partner for MENSHO, a top Tokyo ramen group. Co-founder Patrick Brzeski is Asia Bureau Chief for entertainment magazine The Hollywood Reporter — he oversees Ramen Beast's content creation. Hiroshi Shimakage is a part-time Japanese ramen chef/full-time Japanese ramen head, with deep connections in the local scene. He recently helped launch the first Toronto location of Hototogisu, a high-level Tokyo ramen shop.